


Ain't Got Nothing to Smile About

by ChiaRoseKuro



Series: A World of One's Own [19]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cheating Aftermath, Drabble, F/M, M/M, No Dialogue, Prompt Fic, Relationship Study, Songfic, until the last 100 words anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 11:19:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18893569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiaRoseKuro/pseuds/ChiaRoseKuro
Summary: Sakura should’ve burned it all. Sakura should’ve sold what she could and destroyed the rest of it, rip the uchiwa from every item of clothing she and her silent, grieving daughter own. Sasuke deservesnothingafter the deception he’d pulled, nothing except for the derision of every single person in the Five Elemental Nations—But she loved him, once, and all Sakura can do is thrust the scrolls against his chest and tell him to leave.(betrayal is hard to deal with, but someone should've warned her about the aftermath instead)





	Ain't Got Nothing to Smile About

**Author's Note:**

> Almost half a year later, my writing inspiration has finally wandered back and practically sat on me in its attempt to make itself known... and for all that I deleted the first two attempts at satisfying the prompt, it still hasn't quite bothered to figure in this drabble much either. At least it's easy to place this in the trilogy's chronology, given that it explicitly references events from _Because You Left Me (I Hurt You More)_... but if you want to be more accurate then I'd hazard it's about a month after the trilogy's main end. There's no reference to homosexual behaviour but the main theme of the drabble is infidelity and the fallout from it all, so if that's not to your liking? The 'back' button is at your disposal, as always.
> 
> Special thanks to Halsey's _Nightmare_ for inspiring the anger and angst prevalent throughout this entire story and for plaguing me throughout the hours I wrote up an unrelated idea, deleted that, wrote a false start to this and then finally completed what is posted here now. The prompt 'You must find it before the others do' is so horribly vague that I'd be employing fine bullshitting skills just to relate it somehow, but at least the additional angst from my fucked-up life is far more obvious.

* * *

 

It ends like this:

Sasuke walks through the door without a single expression on his face and almost runs right into Sakura and her armfuls of scrolls, though none spill from the sudden collision. She has the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen minutely—the equivalent to most others’ jaws dropping to the ground—but he’s always been a stoic bastard, and his eyes return to normal mere seconds later. Even his greeting is without inflection, as disinterested as a stranger’s commentary on the weather…

But that’s how he’s always been, aloof and seemingly untouchable to the rest of the world. It had been his poise and his control that Sakura had fallen for, even before she’d realized who he was and the sheer _power_ behind his surname, and it had remained two of the characteristics she’d loved most about him. The day he had smoothed his hand through her hair and softened his gaze just a touch had felt like a dream come true, but she’s woken up since then.

How can she not, when Sarada practices her fire jutsus on the scrapbook she’d kept of their family pictures? How can Sakura keep dreaming when the nightmare of being the unfaithful traitor’s wife never ends?

For her erstwhile husband to go from one of the strongest ninjas in the Five Elemental Nations to the laughingstock of even the _civilian_ population—

 _You have some_ _ **nerve**_ _to come back here,_ Sakura hisses, but not a single muscle moves on Sasuke’s cold, pale face.

 _What, did Naruto leave you too?_ Sakura asks next, but that doesn’t elicit a response either.

And why should it when neither hide nor hair of him could be found after she’d poisoned Sasuke’s _lover?_ In the rare instance where Hinata ventures from her home, thick shadows line her eyes and her hands are never steady. Hinata’s and Naruto’s relationship is of no concern to Sakura, technically speaking—but, just like Sasuke, Naruto’s prior whereabouts had been unknown too.

So for the husband Sakura had divorced _in absentia_ to stroll into the house, easy as he pleased, and ignore every single one of her words to inquire after his possessions…

Sakura should’ve burned it all. She should’ve sold what she could and destroyed the rest of it, rip the uchiwa from every item of clothing she and her silent, grieving daughter own. Sasuke deserves _nothing_ after the deception he’d pulled, nothing except for the derision of every single person in the Five Elemental Nations—

But she loved him, once, and all Sakura can do is thrust the scrolls against his chest and tell him to leave. Not even the satisfaction of watching Sasuke drop half the scrolls onto the floor erases the deep, gnawing ache in her heart, and there’s no stopping the tears that drip from her eyes when the door closes behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(what does Sasuke really feel for her though?)

(at which point can Sakura definitively say he’d given his heart to Naruto?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(had she _ever_ been enough for Sasuke, at any point in her life?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It ends like this, because even tragedies have their endings:

Uchiha Sakura and Uchiha Sarada become Haruno Sakura and Haruno Sarada, a return to a simpler name with far fewer burdens to bear. Whispers never quite fade with time, not even amongst the Academy children who know the least of the situation, but the haunted look in her daughter’s eyes does. Boruto and Himawari, reinstated as main branch Hyuugas after Hinata renounces the Uzumaki name too, don’t bounce back quite as well—but that is not Sakura’s concern.

After all, how can she care for someone else when nobody cares about her? Sakura is Konoha’s most accomplished medic after her legendary teacher, one of the only people to master the Strength of a Hundred seal, but her parents were unknown chuunin. Her skills may gain her some merit—but with former teammates like Sasuke and Naruto and a former sensei like Kakashi, who cares?

Haruno Sakura is no Uchiha or Uzumaki or Hatake, but her lot is hardly any better in comparison.

 _But at least,_ Sakura consoles herself as best as she can, _I still have my dignity_.

It is, in the end, better than nothing at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Tell me, was it funny to deceive me? Did you enjoy laughing behind my back?”

“I don’t think you’ll like the answer I want to give—”

“But who are _you_ to tell me what I’d say or feel?”

“...Nobody who matters, clearly.”

“Exactly—now get out of my house and never come back.”

**Author's Note:**

> For further author notes and other things related to this fic or series, feel free to check out my [blog](https://chiarosekuro.wordpress.com/). Alternately, potential prompts and other sorts of inspiration can be found on my [Tumblr](https://chroku-n.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chroku_n/) if that tickles your fancy instead - or, if you'd like your own shiny new oneshot, you can request one from me [here](https://chiarosekuro.wordpress.com/commissions/).


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